""I dislike feeling at home when I am abroad"" claude-andre's Profile

But I feel good when at home

As a traveller I like to go on my own and I use tours only when it is impossible or too uncomfortable to travel alone. When visiting a country I search a balance between top sites and less travelled ones. I like to walk in the streets of a town where there is nothing to see but people living and working there.
I also like the atmosphere of islands. They are often very quiet, more human in size and people living there have a good sense of their identity. Azores, Cape Verde and Vanuatu Archipelago are my top 3, probably because nature dominates and the mass tourism still ignores them.
Paradoxically, I like also what is wide like deserts, pampas and steppes. I found them in Oman, Argentina and Mongolia.
"Violent" landscapes are fascinating: volcanos, rocky mountains and jungles. I live very near Swiss Alps, dreamed in the middle of Andes, climbed the Stromboli and sweat in Malaysian jungles.
Arts and culture are a must. You find them everywhere and it's a gift.

Switzerland is my home country. I live in Oron-la-Ville near Lausanne (Lake of Geneva) in the French speaking part.

Wintertime - don't forget your pullover

A winter scenery in front of my house

I live 650m over sea level. Until the end of the eighties, we had lot of snow, sometimes it lasted 3 months. Now, climate is changing and snow is scarce. About one week a season. You must climb the mountains to find it (around 1400m).
The day when I took the photograph, there was a snow storm. A great pleasure.

Mountains are not too far

Les Paccots near Lausanne

15 minutes drive and you reach the mountains. The first range before the Alps. They are not so high: less than 2000 m. There you can ski and enjoy all winter activities.

Summer can be hot...cold...sunny ...or rainy

At dusk after rain

I don't travel often summertime. I like to spend hours reading, swimming, walking and meeting people at home. A bottle of Swiss red or white wine is on the table ready to be shared with friends or neighbors....ot VT members if they are travelling in the region.

Learning foreign languages

Babel Tower - Brueghel

How to meet people or understand a culture without knowing a little of their language?
To travel with pleasure, learning foreign languages was a necessity.
So I can understand and be understood with more or less facility and success in:
French - mother tongue
German
English
Spanish
Portuguese
Italian
Mandarin

Eating and drinking

Chamoson: near our vineyard - by Claude O. Marti

If knowing foreign languages is part of the travels, discovering new recipes and wines is probably as important. So a substantial amount of my budget - at home or by travelling - is dedicated to restaurants.
As my wife owns a vineyard in the Valais region (Switzerland) which produce a very good white wine - Petite Arvine - my cellar contains some interesting wines: mainly swiss, french and italian ones. My preferred grapes variety for red wine is Pinot noir.

My likes

A frog in my pond

I have a lot so I give only some of them:
Food: French, Italian and Chinese cooking. Some meals from Mideastern regions and Morocco...and, of course Swiss Raclette and Fondue (cheese meals)
White wines: Swiss ones
Red wines Swiss, French and Italian
Painting: I'm touched by many painters of very different periods and styles. Actually I'm interested in French painters from XVIII to XIX century:
Poussin, Watteau, Fragonard, Ingres, Boudin, Courbet, Corot, Delacroix.
For sure, it will change in the future.
Litterature: As a traveller, I like to read writers from the countries I intend to visit.
Cinema: 3rd World or low-budget films.
Music: jazz (mainly modern) and opera
People: Sense of humour, open-minded, imaginative, passionate.
Hobbies: Photography, reading, gardening, travelling, listening to music, skiing, walking and socializing

My dislikes

Rows of sunshades - Nazare / Portugal

I don't have a lot:
Fast food and Coca Cola
Reality TV, series, soap operas
Narrow-minded people
Hypocrisy, racism, extremism (political or religious), tolerance zero
4x4 cars in towns
Beaches with rows of sunshades
Shops for tourists, to be riped off by taxi drivers

Intro Updated Sep 20, 2008
Report Abuse

Comments (16)

Reply
- Report abuse
Usctwin Jun 13, 2012 at 1:54 PM

Happy birthday!
Reply
- Report abuse
kandoi Jun 13, 2012 at 10:48 AM

Happy Birthday
Reply
- Report abuse
DaHongHua Jun 13, 2012 at 6:11 AM

A warm happy birthday greeting to you from Malaysia.
Reply
- Report abuse
S.VTM Jun 13, 2012 at 3:03 AM

Happy Birthday ,,,, best wishes to you
Reply
- Report abuse
craic Apr 5, 2009 at 10:22 AM

ok - report back re gradations of lovely and beautiful dull hey maybe countries with mountains just relax and get dull
Reply
- Report abuse
Acirfa Oct 15, 2008 at 12:13 AM

Delighted you found my pages to read ready for your journey, I am sure you will have a wonderful time in Africa, I look forward to reading about it.
Reply
- Report abuse
Nemorino Oct 12, 2008 at 1:02 PM

Thanks for your comment on my Germany page.
Reply
- Report abuse
toonsarah Oct 12, 2008 at 5:42 AM

Thank you for visiting my Antarctica and Jamaica pages - glad you enjoyed them.
Reply
- Report abuse
sachara Oct 5, 2008 at 8:48 AM

Hi Claude-Andre, thanks for visiting my Botswana page. I am sure you will have a fantastic trip to Southern Africa. Happy travels!
Reply
- Report abuse
Faiza-Ifrah Oct 2, 2008 at 11:24 AM

greetings and salutations from canada. your intro page introduces you very well. it seems i have known you for ages :-)